diff --git a/tests/travis/before_script b/tests/travis/before_script
index 3c1c5928..6abe5760 100755
--- a/tests/travis/before_script
+++ b/tests/travis/before_script
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ BUILD_DIR=$1
 git clone --depth=100 --quiet git://github.com/silverstripe/silverstripe-installer.git $BUILD_DIR
 git clone --depth=100 --quiet git://github.com/silverstripe-labs/silverstripe-sqlite3.git $BUILD_DIR/sqlite3
 git clone --depth=100 --quiet git://github.com/silverstripe/silverstripe-postgresql.git $BUILD_DIR/postgresql
-git clone --depth=100 --quiet -b ${TRAVIS_BRANCH:-master} git://github.com/silverstripe/sapphire.git $BUILD_DIR/framework
+git clone --depth=100 --quiet -b $TRAVIS_BRANCH git://github.com/silverstripe/sapphire.git $BUILD_DIR/framework
 cp $BUILD_DIR/framework/tests/travis/_ss_environment.php $BUILD_DIR
 cp $BUILD_DIR/framework/tests/travis/_config.php $BUILD_DIR/mysite
 cp -r . $BUILD_DIR/cms